My teaching is inspired daily by Mr. B, in countless ways..."Do what you love, and love what you do!" Currently we are creating an art show display / literary images of F451, just concluded the novel! Two classes doing a similar assignment. Neither will see what the other has done until show time (school-wide display of all forms of art). So, it will be interesting to see how the two interpretations differ or are similar when all is completed.

(I plan to photograph and send a collection of the works to Mr. B later next month.)

Where are the porches of yesteryear? Not In our neighborhood. No, not here. The front porch Is where we would swing in a swing or rock In a rocker, a rhythmical thing, and watch with alert and probing eye the passing of every passerby...

Hey, Pard!! Thought we lost your trail! Had a cup of coffee with my dear better-half just after school on our side porch, facing down the street.

Our cat jump up looking for a handout, two brown doves cooed in our maple tree - now coming into leaf, and a blue jay screeched across the backyard, probably upset the cat and doves had claimed the area. Our neck of the rural village is especially quiet.

In a few weeks two colleges will be finis, and the tumble weeds on main street will be the chief entertainment (Well, not "that" bad!).But, I know what you mean. "The Murderer," "The Pedestrian," and "To the Chicago Abyss" all seem more likely than does a summer night in Green Town sipping an orange soda on grandparents' veranda.

Way back years ago on this thread I gave my personal inspiration regarding Ray, and I'd like to give it again, considering the way things have turned out.

I was in the fourth grade and in parochial school down in Roseburg, Oregon when I first read The Martian Chronicles. After that, I couldn't stop reading Ray's stuff.

Then I started creating sci-fi that was thinly disguised as 'essays' or 'assignments'...and for some of those the nuns would give me the ruler. (laughs) Finally, one very young nun named Sister Maureena convinced the other nuns to lay off, so I kept going with it.

In 2006, I released The Corona Incident, a funny-serious novel about a whiz kid from M.I.T who stumbles onto the tech for time travel, and then has to flee the university after the government figures it out. So he and two others take a little trip back to 1947 New Mexico to find out if the Roswell Incident really happened.

The next year, in The 13th Day of Christmas, the current President shows the head of NASA a copy of The Martian Chronicles and asks him if a manned mission to Mars is possible over the next four years. I just HAD to get Ray in there somewhere. Here's the excerpt:

quote:

“Of course, Mr President. Is there something wrong, sir?”

“No.” Richardson pulled open a drawer and took out a small paperback book. He laid it on the desk. “Have you ever seen this?”

Tyler picked up the book and glanced at it. Splashed in bold letters across the front were the words The Martian Chronicles. “Uh, yes sir. I read it in high school. I like Ray Bradbury, but I don’t understand your meaning.”

“You will. I didn’t ask you here to discuss budget numbers.” Richardson’s eyes twinkled as he spoke. “I’ll bet you thought that’s why I asked you to come today, right?”

“To be honest, yes.” Tyler said.

“Not even close,” said Richardson. “Can you give me an update on the Mars Exploration Program?”

Tyler was taken aback by the unexpected question. “Well, Mr President, currently we have four rovers on the Martian surface, three orbiters mapping the entire planet, and last year we brought back thirty-six pounds of rock and soil on that sample-return mission.”

“Yes. That was certainly a miracle of engineering,” said Richardson. “Let me come right to the point, Dr Tyler. How close are we to actually putting a man on Mars?”

If it weren't for Ray, Adventure Books of Seattle would NOT exist, and that is the truth. He was the catalyst, the beginning of what got me into this type of writing, this business, in the first place. There is no doubt of it.

My latest work was a cooperative effort, and for the first time, a non-fiction book. But I think Ray would like it that we finally solved the mystery of skyjacker D.B. Cooper. It's funny the way things go sometimes...(smiles)

The only real bummer in all of this is seeing posts on this forum where some of you have actually MET Ray, and that some of you live in Southern California, where it is easier to do this. I get jealous.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Robert M Blevins, 16 May 2010 10:12 AM